Process for the complete gasification of bituminous fuels in alternatelyoperated generators



Dec. 21 192$.

PROCESS FOR THE COMPLETE 61.53 'v'q'zosyoF BITUMINOUS FUELS INALTERNATELY (ll 1211x1111) GENERATORS Filed'Augwst 6, 1921 TRACHEPatented Dec. 21, 1926."

"UNITEDQTSTATEKS :QO FFICE- HUGO srnacnnjor vmnua, mama. I

rnooassron THE coM'rLETE easrrrcarron or. islrunruousrunnsIuAt'rEaNArELY- OPERATED GENERATORS. I, a

Application filed August 6, 1921, Serial no}. 490,364, and in Austriatime as, 191

(GRANTED man rim raovrsrons or-riu; new 01: MARCH 3, 1921, 41 srar.L.,."13'13.)'-

The new processor the present case relates to a complete gasificationprocess without leaving any carbonaceous reszdue, in generators'operatedalternately (that is, air and I steam being admitted in alternate steps)in which the distillation chamber or retort is in directcommunication'flsee Austrian Patent 27211 of Aug. 15., 1906,) with theasifi- 1 cation chamber or generator, without t e in- .terposition ofany --ciit-off device, and in which the. distillation .gas produced inthe retort during the period of blowing u the fuel (with air) toinoandescenceis ut ized,

either by a suitable arrangement for the air supply or gas-discharge orby being stored in a storage chamber -(see Austrian Patent 71698 of Oct.15, 1915 In the processes on this principle, steam was continuouslyblown in, at the lower portion only :of' the generator, during theprocess of roducing gas, and the distillation or'degasi cation of thebituminous fuel was carried out partly 1 by'heating from the outside bymeans of the 25 producer or blast gas being generated. (when the fuelwas blown up to incandescence), and partlyby the heating from the insideby the hot ascending water gas.

The degasification may now be materially ented if steam be also.blown-in at that f po fit bf the apparatus where the distillationchamber or retort merges into the generator chamber. This alsomaterially augments the formationof ammonia.

Thesteam may also be used in a superheated state, and for thispurposeit" is al.-

. J lowed to flow through the heating fines surrounding the retort,which also. prevents the I collection of combustible gases in the fluesduring the process of gasificationfland for the further increase of itstemperature, a

separate-steam superheater (whichmay be conveniently heated by theproducer gas formed when the fuel is being blown up to incandescence)may be employed. In this case'ia large volume of "steam in a slightlysuperheated state may. be 'employed and thereby f a higher: yield ofammonia ob-.

tained." The temperature, of course, must not be carried above thedecomposition temperature of the ammonia.

In this way a is also possib'leto effect the hitherto used and based.

. then be purified in the. usual way, separately .vant-age, that .theapparatus for removing the form of water gas.

arate currents of superheated steam, the ,measurement ofthe wdistillation ofthe fuel by superheated steam alone, which is introducedat the place where the distillation chamber or retort and the generatorchamber join each other,i so that in this case it is not necessary topass the Y wateras, formed in the generator chamber, throng the freshfuel. In this case the water gas is taken 03- at the lower part of thegenerator and the supply of'steam from below is dispensed with. In thiscase therefore only distillation gas containing ahi h 1 percentage ofammoma is produced int e distillation chamber or reto-rtby superheatedsteam and led-away at the top, while steam simultaneously passes throughthe column of coke in the generatorchamber from top to from each other,and used separately or mixed in any desired manner. The purifica l tionof the gases separately has also the ad the tar and the ammonia may beconsiderably smaller than when the-whole .of the gas mixture (which hasa much larger'volume) has to be treatedtherein. .If it be desired topass a portion only of the water gas through the retort in order topr'omote the distillation of the fuel, the-steam intended forthegeneration of the water gas is passed in at about the middle of I thegeneratonso that a portion thereof passes downwards andforms water gaswhich is taken off at the bottom while another portion passes throughthe upper part only'of the generator cham her and then passes throughthe retort in- In .cases where the steam supplied" partly at the top andpartly at the bottom, adjustment of the se arate steam supplies isnecessary. This a justment may-be coin-f veniently" efiected bymeasuringthe differ ences in pressure at a convenientpoint, and Ithrottling the steam flow at such point, and as the whole of the steamnotyet superheated is moreeasily measured .than'the se'pe 10o ole of thesteam may be-conveniently effected before the introduction thereof intothe superheater, and the measurement of a separate eurrentsmamely we "athe current to the lower part of the generator, maybe eliect'ed the saidgenerator.

lVhile the fuel is being blown up to inbe'fore the same enters*candescence, the retort is heated by the the proportion in which it isformed. Itis therefore necessary to limit the escape of the gas duringthe period in which the fuel is provided with an adjustable gas by-passof smaller cross sectional area than the main outlet.

sing blown up to incan escence in order to enable the removalof thedistillation gas to be extended as much as possible over the whole timeduring which the fuel is being blown up to incandescence, and toconstant- 1y measure or adjust (or measure and adjust) the volume of gasdrawn 03 from the retort during such time. The apparatus constructed inthis way must consequently be 'gas outlet. o

A portion of the producer or blast gas may however, for the purposeoffurt-her assisting the distillation of the free fuel, be alsointentionally passed through the fuel in the retort, during the periodof blowing the coke up to incandescence. This also is rendered possibleby suitable adjustment of the previously mentioned bypass in the gas Inthis case naturally gas not wholly free from nitrogen will be obtainedbut, the amount of nitrogen contained in the gas is small consideringthe short len th of time during which the fuel is being lown up toincandescence. Y

To carry out my process and its various modifications the apparatusillustrated in vertical section in the annexed drawing can convenientlybe employed. 1 is the generator chamber which is heated by hot airblastsupplied thereto from underneath by a valve 2. The producer or blast gasformed escapes through the slots- (or openings) shown at 3 into theheating line 4 where it is burned with air supplied through the valve 5so that the combustion gases sweep through the heating flues 4, 6 and 7and then pass into the steam superheater 8. The waste gases escapethrough the opened waste gas conduit 9 into the chimney 26..

In cases where, for the purpose-0t obtaining a higher yield of ammoniathe tempera ture in the distillation retort 16 is to be lower, only aportion of the airnecessary for complete combustion is blown in throughthe valve 5, the remainder of the airentering through the valve ,intothe steam super- 'heated up on the fireclay bricks builtinto it, and aportion of the superheated steam now passes through the pipe 13 and thesteam throttling device 14 into the lower part of the water gasgenerating chamber 1.

Another portion of the steam passes out ofthe superheater 8 through apartially closed valve 11, and also through the by-pass (adjustable at15) into the heating flues 7, (5 and stand then through the slots 3 intothe distillation chamber or retort 16 where it mixes with the water gasformed in the generator in consequence of the steam admitted at 14, andboth the water gas and the steam admitted at 3, effect the gasificationof the fresh fuel intermittently suppliedthrough the charging hopper 17The gas mixture escapes through the ascension pipe 18 into the hydraulicmain 19.

This latter contains the gas outletpipe 20 which can be shut off bymeans of the rising and falling bell 21.,

If no steam is to be admitted at the bottom, but the production of watergas is to take place in the generator 1, solely by the steam enteringthrough the slots 3, then the throttling device 14 is entirely shut ofiand p thesteam passes partly through the retort- 16 from the bottom tothe top thereby deort and partly her 1 from'the top to the bottom, sothat water gas may be taken oif at 22 in the.

lower part of-the generator by a pipe furnished with a valve '22 while amixture of watergas and distillation gas may be drawn off from thedistillation chamber at 18. in order to make the steam pass upwardlythrough the retort 16 and downwardly through the generator chamber 1,then at the same time the regulating devices 21, 2 3

and 22' must be properly ad usted.

While the fuel is bein blown up to incandescencethis latter va re 22' isclosed in all cases, while it is not absolutely necessary to entirelyclose the steam throttling device 14, as only a very small portion ofthe air supplied through the valve 2 will escape through it and passinto the, steam superheater 8, where it will assistcombustion.

In order to also enable the distillation gases to be taken 0H through anoutlet pipe gasifying the fuel contained in the said rethrough thegenerator chammet ane of, smaller cross sectional area than the main gasoutlet as hereinbefore described during the period of blowing up to fuelto incandescence, the risingand falling bell 21 in the hydraulic inainisclosed and a'by-' pass pipe which is providdd with a controlling cook 23and any suitable throttling device '24 for measuring the velocitv of thegas current (for example by measuring the difference of pressure) allowsthe gas'inthe hydraulic main 19. to escape into the gas outlet 20. p

The coal distillation gases being lighter in Weight than the producergas, the former accumulate in the upper part of the dis tillationchamber or retort 16. Thereforeit during hot air blasting, the cock 23is throt f tied to sueh'an extent so asto allow-only the volumeofdistillation-gms-that ise-rclwd in the distillation chamber topassthere through, the said gases will escape into the outlet 20 withoutany appreciable admixture of producer gas therewit If the throttling ofthe cook 23 is increased the distillation gases, notwithstanding theirbeing lighter ,thanthe' producer gas, are to some extent "forceddownwardly and escape from the distillation chamber 16 through the slots3 into the heating fine 4, assisting in the external heating of thedistillation chamber. lit the cook 23 is opened to such an extent as toallow'the passage therethrou'gh of more than the Whole wolume of thedistillation gases,

a certain amount of producers gas is drawn through the retort, 16 withthe distillation gas. ln this erentthe process of complete,

, distillation in the retort will be produced, by the high temperatureof the producer gas. It is therefore important to constantly 'measurethe amount of gas passinglthrough the by-pass vwhich connects theydraulic main 19- and the gas outlet Qtlyfor which purpose a throttlingis eflectedat 24, Which rent.

I claim:

1. ,A process sure gauge 25, the velocity of the gas ourof producing agas substantially composed of water gas and .disti.l1a-v of incandescentcoke in a gas generatingw chamber and a superimposed mass of bitu minousfuel to be distilled upon the same in immediate cont-act therewith ,ina. distilla;

tion chamber, (afblowing air through the incandescent coke to formproducer or blast gas, burning at least a part of the said producer gasin fines surrounding the said distillation chamber, -(b) passing steamthrough the said fines thereby superheating thesteam and introducing itataboutthe junction point of the distillation chamber and the gasgenerating chamber, passing a part of this steam through the mass of thenately repeating steps (a)- and (6) while 7h I drawing off the resultingmixture of Water gas and-distillation gas from the distillationchamber', separately drawing 0d the water gas-formed in the gasgenerating chamber from said chamber, and replenishin said 7;; fuel tomaintain both the fuel and tie incandescent coke. 2. A processofzproducing a gas sub'stan tially composed of Water gas anddistillation gas from bituminous fuel which comprises establishing andmaintaining a bed of incandescent coke in a gas-generating chamher and asuperimposed mass of bituminous fuel to be distilled-upon the same inimmediate contact therewith in a distillation E3 chamber, (02) blowingair through the incandescent coke to form producer or blast gas, burningat lea'sta part of the said producer gas in fines surrounding the saiddistillation chamber, (b)? passing steam so through the said fluesthereby, superheating the steam, introducing the-steam at about thejunction point of the distillation chamher and the gas generatingchamber, passing the steam through the mass of the fuel t3 in thedistillation chamber and simultaneous- .ly passing superheated steamatabout-the bottom of the incandescentv coke inthe gas generatingchamber, alternatel repeating steps (a) and (5), drawing 0 the result"-ingmixture of water gas and distillation gas ition gas with "anadmixture of producer or blast gas from bituminous fuel which com-1nd1cates, by means of a differential presprises establishing andmaintaininga. bed of "incandescent coke in a as generating chamtlober'anda supenmpose mass of bituminous fuel to: be distilled uponthesame 1n 1mmediate contact therewith in a distillation chamber, (a)blowing air through the hot coketo form producer or blast gas, passing aportion of the said hot reducer gas through the fuel in the disti ationchamber and thereby subjecting thelsaid fuel'to an additional heating,burning simultaneously a-nother portion of the said producer gas infines, surrounding the said distillation chamber, (b) passing steamthrough the said flues, thereby superheating the steam and introducingit at-about the junction point of the distillation chamber and the gasgenerating 12 chambenpassingit through the mass of the fuel in'thedistillation chamber and simule taneously passing superheated steam atabout the bottom ot'the incandescent coke in the gas generatingchamber,alternatelyiifil tion gas and producer or blast gas from thedistillation chamber, and replenishing said fuel to maintain both thefuel and the incandescent coke.

4. A process of producing a gas substan-' tially composed of water gasand distillation gas from bituminous fuel which comprises establishingand maintaining a bed of incandescent coke in a gas generating chamberand a superimposed mass of bituminous fuel to be distilled upon the samein immediate contact therewith in a distillation chamber, (a)'formingproducer or blast 1,81 Le ia evol ed in the distillation chamber duringthe said blowing period from a hydraulic main by means of a by-pass ofsmaller cross sectional area than the main gas outlet, the said by-passestablishing communication be tween the said hydraulic main and the maingas outlet, (7)) introducing superheated steam in the gas generatingchamber, passing the resulting water gas through the distillationchamber, drawing off a mixture of water gas and distillation gas fromthe said distillation chamber, repeating steps and (b), and replenishingsaid fuel to maintain both the fuel and the incandescent coke.

name to this specification.

PROF. DR. HUGO s'rnacnn.

